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- VNESHPOSYLTORG - RUSSIAN GOODS CATALOGUE by PODAROGIFTS and AMTORG "All-Union Mail Order Trade Organization".

Published by VNESHPOSYLTORG, Moscow, USSR. Undated but circa 1960s.

Through this illustrated catalog individuals outside of the Soviet Union could order all sorts of Russian made goods and have them sent to relatives or others living in the Soviet Union. Products included VOLGA CARS, Russian made bicycles, radios, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, watches, etc.

Softcovers, plastic spiral bound, 6x8.5 inches, 82 pages. Illustrated throughout with b&w photographs. Text in Russian and English.

GOOD condition, the covers have some creases and toning, the inner pages have some light toning to the edges, otherwise tight, bright, clean and unmarked. The illustrations of products are all bright and clear.

VNESHPOSYLTORG [AMTORG] had its offices in New York City. In 1971 its offices were bombed by the JDL.

PODAROGIFTS, representing products of VNESHPOSYLTORG [AMTORG], had a storefront in New York City. In 1971 the storefront was bombed by the J.A.R. "Jewish Armed Resistance".

About the 1971 PODAROGIFTS BOMBING (from the New York Times Dec. 6, 1971):

******A crude bomb exploded yes terday in the doorway of a Fifth Avenue gift shop specializing in Russian products. No injuries were reported.

About five minutes after the explosion at 5:45 P.M., The Associated Press reported it had received a telephone call from an unidentified man who said: "A Russian gift shop at Fifth Avenue and 27th Street has just been bombed by the Jewish Armed Resistance J.A.R. All those that trade with Russia beware. Let my people go. Good night"

Detectives of the bomb section said that apparently three or four aerosol cans taped together and set off by a lighted can of Sterno had caused the explosion.******

About the 1971 VNESHPOSYLTORG / AMTORG BOMBING (from the New York Times Apr. 23, 1971):

******A bomb In an attaché case exploded yesterday at the offices of the Amtorg Trading Corporation, the Soviet trade agency, on Lexington Avenue. No one was injured. The bomb went off about 20 minutes after the agency and The Associated Press and United Press International received telephone calls from a male caller who said:

"There have been several time bombs placed in the offices of Amtorg, at the Soviet freight office, at 355 Lexington Avenue. They will go off in less than 15 minutes. Free all Soviet Jewish prisoners. Let my people go. Never again."

Frank Hassett, engineer of the building at 40th Street, said he received a call just moments before the bomb exploded in the 19th floor stairwell at 5:37 P.M. He said: "They identified themselves as the Jewish Defense League. They told me to evacuate the building because the 19th floor was going to be bombed."

Amtorg takes up the entire 19th floor of the 22-story building. All floors between the 22d and 16th were evacuated. The explosion collapsed part of the ceiling on the 19th floor, blew out doors and windows, tore a hole in the concrete stairwell, destroyed chairs in the Amtorg office and touched off fires.******

About VNESHPOSYLTORG / AMTORG / PODAROGIFTS (from Wikipedia and elsewhere on the Internet):

******The All-Union Association Vneshposyltorg (All-Union Foreign Mail Order Trade Association) was an organization in the Soviet Union which handled trade in goods for hard currency. Vneshposyltorg sold consumer goods to foreigners with delivery within Soviet territory. This gave foreigners the opportunity to send gifts to their friends and relatives in the Soviet Union

Russian made goods could be ordered by catalog or through its Podarogifts Inc. storefront in New York City.******

ARTICLES pour CONFISEURS et CHOCOLATIERS - CARTONNAGES FANTAISIES (FANTASY BOXES for CANDIES and CHOCOLATES). CATALOG issued by E. DUMOULINNEUF, Paris, France, 1906.

Textured (faux leather) paper covers, 6.5x10 inches (16x25 cm) oblong, bound with 2 brass brads, 15 stiff leaves / 30 pages. Each of 29 pages has a mounted portion of a printed candy/chocolate box, showing the illustration and the type of textured card used for that particular box. Quite delicious imagery! Tissue guards are between each leaf. A printed ORDER SHEET is laid-in.

FAIR condition, the examples have varying degrees of soiling and foxing, wobbliness and some browning to their corner areas from the aging glue on their backsides, and the tissue guards have all browned and are foxed. There is also a musty smell. NONETHELESS, the examples are all present, and all are quite lovely. The laid in order sheet has toning, soiling, and several folds that are tender, but remains solid and fully legible.

Rare French Fine Chocolate Box Design Examples from 1906. Chocolate, is there nothing it can't do?

LUCIO FONTANA : CONCETTO SPAZIALE, LE CHIESE DI VENEZIA (SPATIAL CONCEPT, THE CHURCHES OF VENICE) 1961. Sotheby's catalog for the auction that took place in London on 26 June 2013.

Single Item Auction Catalog. The art work had an estimate of 4,000,000 to 6,000,000 GBP and sold for 4,450,500 GBP.

Softcover Auction Catalog, 9x11.5 inches, 36 unnumbered pages. Single lot auction, with essays about the painting, Fontana, and Fontana's works. Fully Illustrated.

NEAR FINE condition, a touch of shelf wear to the covers, corner tips lightly worn, overall tight, bright, clean and unmarked.

About this auction (from Sotheby's website):

******A supreme example of Lucio Fontana's tireless conceptual and artistic exploration, Concetto Spaziale, Le Chiese di Venezia exists as undeniable proof of the artist's critical and innovative role in the history of art. This work belongs to the extremely rare and highly venerated Venezia cycle of paintings, which collectively form the crescendo of the Olii corpus that spanned over a decade of his career. Famously created in an inspired burst of artistic activity, the Venezia paintings have acquired a mythic aura within Fontana's oeuvre. Having remained in the most respected private collections since its creation, the appearance of this work for auction denotes an exceptional event. Indeed, though standing alongside fellow constituents of the Venezia Corpus that belong in the prominent collections of the Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Museo Thyssen Bornemisza, Madrid; and Fondazione Lucio Fontana, Milan; the present work stands out for its intensely evocative composition; one intrinsically linked with the physical landmass and opulent ornament conjured by its namesake.******

The Roy Davids Collection, Part III: Poetry: Poetical Manuscripts & Portraits of Poets, Volumes I and II

Auction catalogs for the auction that took place in London at Bonhams & Butterfields on April 10 and May 8, 2013.

Two large catalogs. Softcovers, 8.25x10.5 inches. The two volumes are: Part III: Volume I: A-K, 285 pages, 263 lots. Part III: Volume II: L-Y, 289 pages, 263 lots (numbered 264-526).

Illustrated throughout with photographic reproductions of handwritten poems, letters, marginalia, and the like; as well as numerous portraits, mostly photographic, of the various poets.

Both volumes are in FINE unused condition.

An important and useful reference to the handwriting of many English poets.

INTERNATIONAL BUYERS PLEASE NOTE: These two catalogs are heavy and will require substantial additional shipping charges. After placing your order you will be notified of the additional charges and be able to accept or reject them before your payment is processed. Or you can contact us ahead of time to find out the shipping charge to your country. Thanks.

ELEGANT TREASURES FROM AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION. China Guardian Hong Kong Auction Catalog, for the auction that took place in Hong Kong on October 2, 2018. Beautifully produced and fully illustrated. Softcovers, 8.5x10.5 inches,, unpaginated (approximately 125 pages). Text in Chinese and English. Estimated prices are in HKD and USD. 45 lots (numbered 585 to 629) of exquisite and very rare Chinese Artifacts are fully described and catalogued. Each item is illustrated with one or more color photographs. The China Guardian Auction catalogues are beautifully produced. This catalogue is a true gem and an important reference. Hard to find in the United States. NEAR FINE condition, a bit of sunning to the spine, a slight bump at the bottom of the spine, overall looks and feels barely used. A lovely, solid copy.

CHRISTIAN JANKOWSKI - STRIP THE AUCTIONEER at CHRISTIE'S.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED by JANKOWSKI on the first page: "For Marcher / Christian Jankowski / 4.3.10".

Softcovers, 8.5" x 10.5", 48 unnumbered pages PLUS a bound-in 48 page booklet, with 36 pages in English and German that describe the auction, and 12 pages of reactions by the winning bidders of the various items.

VERY GOOD condition, some light creases to the covers from handling, overall just lightly used and still tight, bright, clean and unmarked. A solid, very nice copy.

Shows the actual AUCTION EVENT that took place at CHRISTIE'S, Amsterdam, where the LONGTIME AUCTIONEER ARNO VERKADE stripped and auctioned off much of his clothing, piece by piece, with the last piece being his personal Auctioneer's Hammer. (If you are wondering, yes, he left his pants on.)

The auction was incorporated into a PERFORMANCE PIECE / EXHIBITION put together by the CONTEMPORARY GERMAN ARTIST CHRISTIAN JANKOWSKI. The Christie's "STRIP THE AUCTIONEER" was broadcast live into the Jankowski Exhibition on its opening day, as part of the exhibition. It was then shown on video repeatedly during the life of the exhibition. Published by Walther König, Köln, Germany, 2011.

Looks like a Christie's Auction Catalogue, but is actually a photographic revisiting of the auction, with photos by a Christie's photographer. It was published after the auction took place, showing, through photographs, how it took place, how the auctioneer stripped, the items sold, and the prices they obtained. There is also a bound-in booklet that shows the winning bidders and gives their reactions to the items they won, the high prices they paid, and to the event as a whole.

The pieces of clothing that the auctioneer removed and then auctioned included his shoes, socks, shirt, jacket, etc. Each item (i.e. one left shoe) went for approximately two thousand euros, blurring the line between what is art, what is collectible, and what is just a dirty sock that the auctioneer has just taken off his foot.

SCARCE SIGNED and INSCRIBED by JANKOWSKI.

You can read about the Contemporary German Multi-Media Artist CHRISTIAN JANKOWSKI on Wikipedia.